| Author | Thread |
 JimiRose
Nikon D90 |
05/20/2008 03:40:11 PM |
I stumbled across this - I'm not sure if there has already been a post about it.
There's an advertising campaign in the UK at the moment encouraging the public to suspect photographers as terrorists.  Quasimojo has already discussed this here and on other sites but there's an article here about it (featuring original artwork by Mr Quasimojo himself!) |
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 Quasimojo
Canon EOS-30D |
05/20/2008 04:45:02 PM |
Cheers for this - I posted this a while back...must be around the original date of the France24 article. The issue is still a live one though, with a couple of the UK photography magazines really starting to support our cause more visibly. I can never remember the names of them, but the one with Will Cheung as the editor (AP?) has run multiple articles over the past few months, and readers are writing in too.
For what it's worth, I had my big lens out in Delft and Amsterdam, day, night, Queen's Day, and saw a bazillion cops...but no one said a word, ever. I know Amsterdam and London don't compare on the terrorist threat scale but it's incredibly refreshing to just be out in public and being able to shoot freely without worrying about where the next hassle is coming from (and how serious).
Personally once I can get shooting again I'm taking a more militant stance rather than bending to the will of any security officer, be it private or the Met. I know my rights as a photographer and providing I'm on public property I'm going to start quoting the law. But I've got a thesis to finish first...and then onto the good fight....
N |
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Spazmo99
Canon EOS-5D Mark II |
05/20/2008 04:53:52 PM |
Originally posted by Quasimojo:
For what it's worth, I had my big lens out in Delft and Amsterdam, day, night, Queen's Day, and saw a bazillion cops...but no one said a word, ever. I know Amsterdam and London don't compare on the terrorist threat scale but it's incredibly refreshing to just be out in public and being able to shoot freely without worrying about where the next hassle is coming from (and how serious).
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I remember Amsterdam as the only city in Europe where I felt violated when I got patted down at a security checkpoint. |
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GueDesigns
Canon EOS-30D |
05/20/2008 04:59:10 PM |
| In Frankfurt airport, they checked every lens and inside the camera. The also rubbed something on it, then took it to a room. They came back and let me go thru, but I have never been thru that before. |
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jeger
Canon EOS-5D |
05/20/2008 05:04:08 PM |
Originally posted by GueDesigns:
In Frankfurt airport, they checked every lens and inside the camera. The also rubbed something on it, then took it to a room. They came back and let me go thru, but I have never been thru that before. |
They are swabbing the equipment for explosives residue. This is not uncommon at many airports. I have gone through this process a few times. It is usually fairly quick and painless. |
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 JulietNN
Canon EOS-50D |
05/20/2008 05:12:13 PM |
they swab pushchairs (prams) too, and trust me that takes a loooooooooooooooooooooot longer than a few pieces of camera stuff. Wouldnt you rather they swab everything than let anything go through security?
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TCGuru
Canon EOS-40D |
05/20/2008 05:24:21 PM |
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Tez
Canon EOS-5D Mark II |
05/20/2008 05:46:55 PM |
so this is just in London? If so, i'm glad i live up north in Manchester... even if it does rain without a cloud in the sky.
However, if you live down south, this stinks.
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JimiRose
Nikon D90 |
05/20/2008 06:30:08 PM |
Originally posted by Quasimojo:
For what it's worth, I had my big lens out in Delft and Amsterdam, day, night, Queen's Day, and saw a bazillion cops...but no one said a word, ever. I know Amsterdam and London don't compare on the terrorist threat scale but it's incredibly refreshing to just be out in public and being able to shoot freely without worrying about where the next hassle is coming from (and how serious). |
A guy I was travelling with was wrestled to the ground and physically forced to delete pictures from his camera in Amsterdam. This was however, because photography in the red light district is a biiiiig no no - people like their privacy ;-). |
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JimiRose
Nikon D90 |
05/20/2008 06:32:46 PM |
Originally posted by Tez:
so this is just in London? If so, i'm glad i live up north in Manchester... even if it does rain without a cloud in the sky.
However, if you live down south, this stinks. |
I think it is far more of a London thing (i'm pretty sure no other southern town has this scale of problem).
The irony of that being that all of the London bombers came from 15 minutes down the road from my house in Leeds! It's grim up north... |
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rob_smith
Nikon D300 |
05/20/2008 06:54:48 PM |
It's definitely a London thing, and it stinks! Surely if you are in a public place you can take shots of the houses of parliament (without a tripod) without any copper being able to do anything about it..?
I'm gonna get a high-vis jacket made up saying "PHOTOGRAPHER - NOT TERRORIST" on it. |
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Quasimojo
Canon EOS-30D |
05/21/2008 09:09:37 AM |
Originally posted by JimiRose:
A guy I was travelling with was wrestled to the ground and physically forced to delete pictures from his camera in Amsterdam. This was however, because photography in the red light district is a biiiiig no no - people like their privacy ;-). |
Yeah, well that's just photography/hardware suicide imho! Even with a long lens and cover it's a bad idea. The signs everywhere with 'no cameras/photography' ought to be the giveaway (plus a bit of common sense). If you want those kinds of shots, get into a boat - good distance (don't need 800mm lens to see anything) and excellent protection :)
N |
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Quasimojo
Canon EOS-30D |
05/21/2008 09:11:59 AM |
Originally posted by rob_smith:
It's definitely a London thing, and it stinks! Surely if you are in a public place you can take shots of the houses of parliament (without a tripod) without any copper being able to do anything about it..?
I'm gonna get a high-vis jacket made up saying "PHOTOGRAPHER - NOT TERRORIST" on it. |
DO IT! I was going to do exactly the same thing but I'm fairly certain that the police don't have much of a sense of humour on this issue. Whatever the politicians are doing, the police on the streets are still trying to keep this place safe from every muslim extremist with a half baked idea....so I don't blame the police for their actions but antagonising them isn't the answer either imho. Whatever happens you'll get some great shots before you get taken down... :)
N |
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Strikeslip
Canon EOS-40D |
05/21/2008 09:13:45 AM |
Originally posted by JulietNN:
they swab pushchairs (prams) too, and trust me that takes a loooooooooooooooooooooot longer than a few pieces of camera stuff. Wouldnt you rather they swab everything than let anything go through security? |
When I travel I always pack my exlosives in my checked baggage.
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rob_smith
Nikon D300 |
05/21/2008 11:26:40 AM |
Originally posted by Quasimojo:
Originally posted by rob_smith:
It's definitely a London thing, and it stinks! Surely if you are in a public place you can take shots of the houses of parliament (without a tripod) without any copper being able to do anything about it..?
I'm gonna get a high-vis jacket made up saying "PHOTOGRAPHER - NOT TERRORIST" on it. |
DO IT! I was going to do exactly the same thing but I'm fairly certain that the police don't have much of a sense of humour on this issue. Whatever the politicians are doing, the police on the streets are still trying to keep this place safe from every muslim extremist with a half baked idea....so I don't blame the police for their actions but antagonising them isn't the answer either imho. Whatever happens you'll get some great shots before you get taken down... :)
N |
I don't have anything against the police at all, I just don't have any respect for people with no common sense. The police should also abide by the laws of this free country, and should know their own and our rights. And do they really think that a person with a large DSLR and possibly a tripod is really going to be a terrorist?
I'm sure you don't need good bokeh to plan an attack.
; ) |
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Bujanx
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi |
05/21/2008 11:40:41 AM |
Wow that borders on insanity!
Unless their photographing closed off areas or something similar, everything else is easily accesible via the net anyways...
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FireBird
Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital |
05/21/2008 01:00:27 PM |
Originally posted by Bujanx:
Wow that borders on insanity!
Unless their photographing closed off areas or something similar, everything else is easily accesible via the net anyways... |
For the time being.........
Protecting a population from itself is much like boiling a live frog. You must throw the frog in while the water is luke warm. Then you can ramp up the temperature. From some of the responses to the article referenced above it looks like the UK is ready to turn up the heat. |
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JimiRose
Nikon D90 |
05/21/2008 01:28:32 PM |
Originally posted by Quasimojo:
Originally posted by JimiRose:
A guy I was travelling with was wrestled to the ground and physically forced to delete pictures from his camera in Amsterdam. This was however, because photography in the red light district is a biiiiig no no - people like their privacy ;-). |
Yeah, well that's just photography/hardware suicide imho! Even with a long lens and cover it's a bad idea. The signs everywhere with 'no cameras/photography' ought to be the giveaway (plus a bit of common sense). If you want those kinds of shots, get into a boat - good distance (don't need 800mm lens to see anything) and excellent protection :)
N |
Wow this is clearly a man of experience. I couldn't quite believe that he'd taken the shots to be honest, you get warned regularly enough not to. Serious lack of common sense.
The irony of it was he's gay and has no interest in what he was shooting! I think that's what he was trying to explain to the mountain of dutch bouncers that had him pinned to the floor... :-p |
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salmiakki
Nikon D300 |
06/05/2008 04:17:47 AM |
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JimiRose
Nikon D90 |
06/05/2008 04:35:04 AM |
Interesting stuff, there's not really much content to it though - classic filler article ;-)
He does raise the point that people will believe anything if you scare them enough which is very true. Also 50 billion amature photos are taken each year in the US - that is a staggering number. |
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salmiakki
Nikon D300 |
06/05/2008 04:36:49 AM |
Originally posted by JimiRose:
Interesting stuff, there's not really much content to it though - classic filler article ;-)
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Agreed, but at least articles like this keeps the topic on the radar.
Message edited by author 2008-06-05 04:37:13. |
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xianart
Canon EOS-20D |
06/05/2008 06:14:36 AM |
plus, at the bottom there are links to photographer rights sites.
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togtog
Nikon D300 |
06/05/2008 06:18:06 AM |
I am very happy to see it is on Bruce Schneier's radar. He is an extremely intelligent man and not a friend of stupid laws and governments. :)
Though I'm not sure how successful he is as an activist. Awareness is a good thing alone though.
Thanks salmiakki! |
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